1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate generally to electricity meters and more particularly, to systems, methods, and apparatuses for detecting electricity theft in electricity meter software and/or hardware, including firmware.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some residential electro-mechanical electricity meters may run backwards when inverted in the meter socket. These electricity meters may include 3-wire, two phase residential service meters using a Form 2S, which is symmetrical and can be inverted. Some unscrupulous customers may tamper with these meters in order to reduce the accumulated energy on the meters, thereby reducing their electricity bills. Such residential electricity theft results in significant lost revenue for utility companies.
Other electricity meters have used a tilt switch to detect when a meter is removed from the socket. In addition, others have been provided with a detent to prevent the meter from running backwards. Still other meters may have additional hardware and/or software to accumulate both received and delivered energy. However, none of these meters have the ability to detect and alert a utility company to electricity theft.
Accordingly, there is a need in the industry for systems and methods of detecting and alerting utility companies of such potential electricity theft through meter software and/or hardware, including firmware.